Religion: Year In Review 1996

During 1996 religious groups were pitted against governments on issues ranging from freedom of belief and practice to public policy matters such as abortion. In some cases faith groups found themselves in disagreement with one another on such subjects as evangelism and the significance of the Holocaust. Christians found themselves debating some core beliefs, including the identity of Jesus and the existence of hell. (For figures on adherents of all religions by continent and on adherents in the U.S., see below.)

Leaders of more than 40 Christian organizations met in Washington, D.C., in January to draw attention to the plight of persecuted Christians and to urge the U.S. Congress to take up their cause. They reported that in places such as China, Vietnam, Cuba, the Middle East, and northern Africa, Christians faced arrest, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial executions for practicing their faith. The House of Representatives and Senate adopted resolutions deploring such persecution in September, with the Senate calling for "a thorough examination of all United States policies that affect persecuted Christians" and for the appointment of a special presidential adviser on religious persecution.

Two of the high-profile cases that involved persecution of Christians during the year were the abduction and murder of seven Trappist monks in Algeria by terrorists who called themselves the Armed Islamic Group and the conviction of Robert Hussein Qambar, a Muslim convert to Christianity, on a charge of apostasy by an Islamic court in Kuwait in May. Hussein left the country in August rather than face an appeals hearing in September.

France in 1996 had 172 groups classified as religious sects, according to a report released by the nation’s Parliament in June. The government subsequently organized a watchdog group to recommend police investigations of the sects whenever it found them warranted. The parliaments of Belgium and Switzerland launched similar investigations. In Germany the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) called for a ban on members of the Church of Scientology working in government jobs and asked for a government investigation of the group in October. Such a ban had already been initiated by the state of Bavaria. The youth branch of the CDU urged a boycott of the film Mission: Impossible because its star and director, Tom Cruise, was a Scientologist. While German officials called the church a threat to democracy, leaders of the church said Germany was using fascist tactics against it.

Roman Catholic Archbishop Norberto Rivera Carrera drew fire from Mexican officials in October when he said that if the government "openly denies fundamental human rights, then one has to deny it obedience." It was unclear to what he was referring, but Armando López Campa, director of religious affairs at the Interior Secretariat, said the remarks may have violated a legal ban on using pulpits to preach against the laws of the country.

On the first day of the year, the Israeli Supreme Court disbanded government religious councils in Jerusalem and the town of Kiryat Tivon because they excluded Reform and Conservative Jews; the court also ordered a Conservative and a Reform representative appointed to the religious council in Haifa. In July a Reform leader accused Sephardic Chief Rabbi Eliahu Bakshi-Doron of sanctioning the murder of Reform Jews; in a radio broadcast the rabbi said the biblical figure Phinehas had committed a "pure act" when he killed another Jew for having an intimate relationship with a Gentile woman. During the broadcast the rabbi described the victim as "the first Reform Jew."

In Sweden the government took the first steps to distance itself from the state Lutheran church by revoking the law requiring that children born to at least one Lutheran parent automatically become members of the church. After 2000 the church rather than the state would appoint its own bishops.

During Russia’s presidential campaign all the major candidates, including Communist Gennady Zyuganov, actively sought support from the Orthodox Church. Zyuganov visited monasteries and dropped atheism from his party’s platform. Ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky declared himself a believer and renewed his marriage vows in a widely publicized church ceremony. Pres. Boris Yeltsin appeared as often as possible in public with Patriarch Aleksey II, who all but officially endorsed his reelection. Although only about 10% of Russians attended services regularly, opinion polls found that they rated the Orthodox Church as the institution they most respected.

In the United States, Pres. Bill Clinton was denounced by leaders of several religious groups for his veto of a bill banning a late-term abortion procedure. Top leaders of the U.S. Roman Catholic Church said the veto was "beyond comprehension for those who hold human life sacred," and leaders of Clinton’s own denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, urged him to repent and "express publicly your personal regret" for the veto. On the other side, 36 religious leaders in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice said they supported the president’s action. Where religious people had differences on such matters, they said, "the government must not legislate, and thus impose, one religious view on all our citizens."

The Southern Baptist Convention unleashed a firestorm by adopting a resolution at its annual meeting in June in New Orleans calling for increased efforts to bear witness to Jewish people and appointing a new home missionary seeking to evangelize Jews in the U.S. The action was widely denounced as insensitive by mainstream Jewish organizations.

Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel in July described the presence of crosses at the site of the Nazi Birkenau concentration camp in Poland as an "insult" and a "blasphemy" and urged their removal, thereby drawing criticism from Poland’s Roman Catholic bishops. The Polish church’s Commission for Dialogue with Judaism said the cross was regarded by Jews as a "sign of fear and hatred," while Poles considered it a symbol of "liberation from occupying powers."

The National Institute for Healthcare Research and the John Templeton Foundation of Philadelphia awarded grants to 11 medical schools to help teach future physicians to consider the spiritual as well as physical condition of patients. And the National Institutes of Health financed a $28,797 study at the University of New Mexico on the effect of prayer on alcoholics and drug abusers. In a book titled Timeless Healing: The Power and Biology of Belief, Herbert Benson, president of the Mind/Body Medical Institute of Boston’s Deaconess Hospital, wrote that "our genetic blueprint has made believing in an Infinite Absolute part of our nature."

Other research focused on the success of church attendance and religious-based programs on preventing or reducing crime and substance abuse. A study by Harvard University economist Richard Freeman found regular church attendance to be a better predictor than family structure or income of the likelihood that urban youth would turn to drugs or crime, and another survey found more than 30 studies that showed a correlation between religious participation and avoidance of such behaviour. Such studies bolstered a provision of the new law overhauling the U.S. welfare system that enabled the federal government for the first time to be able to give money to churches and other religious groups in order to provide services to the poor.

On the other side of the coin, a federal judge in St. Paul, Minn., struck down Medicare and Medicaid payments to Christian Science healers on the ground that they violated the constitutional separation of church and state. Earlier the U.S. Supreme Court had upheld a $1.5 million award against four Christian Scientists in the case of an 11-year-old Minnesota boy who had died in 1989 after being treated with prayer rather than medical care.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, passed in 1993 to tighten conditions under which government in the U.S. could restrict religious practice, was interpreted in different ways during 1996. In May an appeals court in St. Louis, Mo., said it enabled a church in New Hope, Minn., to keep money tithed by a couple in the year before they filed for bankruptcy. But in a June ruling involving a dispute over whether a church in Cumberland, Md., could raze property that the city wanted preserved, a Baltimore judge said the law was unconstitutional because it "usurped the Supreme Court’s authority to determine the scope and meaning of the First Amendment." In October the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the law in a case that involved its use by the archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas, against an ordinance in Boerne, Texas, that prevented a church in the city’s historic district from building an addition. Congress passed a law in 1996 establishing a $10 million fund to provide loans and grants to rebuild churches that were destroyed by arson; a number of African-American churches in the southern U.S. were destroyed by fire during the year.

In their issues dated April 8, the day after Easter, the three major U.S. weekly newsmagazines all featured cover stories on new scholarly theories about the historical Jesus, many of which cast doubt on the literal nature of his resurrection. Many reflected the work of the controversial Jesus Seminar, which itself was criticized by former Roman Catholic priest Luke Timothy Johnson in a volume titled The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospels. A survey conducted in March by the Barna Research Group found that 30% of "born-again" Christians did not believe that Jesus "came back to physical life after he was crucified."

Traditional concepts of the nature of hell were debated in January when the doctrine commission of the Church of England issued a report suggesting that it might more accurately be thought of as annihilation for nonbelievers rather than as a place of eternal torment. The Barna survey found that 31% of Americans saw hell as a place of physical torment while 37% said it represented a "state of permanent separation from the presence of God."

Ordination of homosexuals to the ministry and gay marriages drew varying responses from religious groups in 1996. The United Methodist Church voted at its quadrennial General Conference in Denver, Colo., in April to retain its position that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching despite a petition from 15 bishops urging the church to ordain homosexuals. In a May ruling in Wilmington, Del., an Episcopal Church court dismissed heresy charges against retired bishop Walter Righter for having ordained a gay man as a deacon, ruling that a 1979 resolution by bishops against ordaining practicing homosexuals does not have the force of canon law. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), meeting in Albuquerque, N.M., in July, sent to presbyteries for a vote a measure that would require fidelity in marriage and chastity while single for all church officers and thus bar practicing homosexuals from ordination. Earlier, the Judicial Commission of the denomination’s Cincinnati (Ohio) Presbytery had nullified the ordination of an allegedly gay man. In November a church in Toledo, Ohio, that belonged to the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches ordained a lesbian.

In March the Central Conference of American Rabbis, a Reform Jewish group, endorsed same-sex marriage as a civil right but stopped short of recommending that rabbis perform such ceremonies. In June the Unitarian-Universalist Association endorsed the legalization of such unions and voted to "proclaim the worth of marriage between any two committed persons."

Architect Philip Johnson celebrated his 90th birthday July 8 by unveiling a model for a $20 million cathedral in Dallas, Texas, for the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a 3,000-member congregation composed primarily of homosexuals. He described the structure, which would be taller than Notre Dame Cathedral, as "the most important job of my life."

While some Christians debated doctrinal points, a major rift in the ranks of Orthodox Christianity threatened to explode over the affiliation of the Estonian Orthodox Church. The church was forced under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church by the Soviet Union in 1945. When Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I approved its return to the jurisdiction of the patriarchate in Constantinople in February, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Aleksey II refused to recognize the change. The dispute was settled in May when Moscow and Constantinople agreed to allow parishes and priests in the Estonian church to decide their individual affiliations. (See Orthodox Church: Sidebar, below.) Meanwhile, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant groups agreed to form a Christian Interconfessional Consultative Committee to promote cooperation and mutual understanding in the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic countries.

A survey reported that church attendance in the U.S. was at the lowest level in two decades, with attendance dropping especially among seniors and baby boomers. Noting that these trends went against traditional patterns for people in their mid-40s to mid-60s, pollster George Barna cited the failure of churches to be relevant and turbulence within families as factors.

The $1 million Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion was awarded to Bill Bright, a Presbyterian layman who founded the Campus Crusade for Christ in 1951. The evangelical ministry, represented in 165 countries, was best known for its pamphlet The Four Spiritual Laws and a film on the life of Jesus that had been translated into more than 350 languages and shown in more than 200 countries. The 74-year-old Bright said he would use the money to establish a program to educate church leaders worldwide on fasting and prayer.

PROTESTANT CHURCHES

Anglican Communion

A church court dismissed heresy charges in May against the retired Episcopal bishop of Iowa, Walter C. Righter. In early 1995 Righter had been charged by 10 bishops under church canons for "teaching publicly and advisedly that a practicing homosexual may properly be ordained" and for violating his ordination vows. The court, however, held that neither the doctrine nor discipline of the Episcopal Church prohibited the ordination of a noncelibate homosexual person. The bishops who filed the charges said at a May news conference that they would not appeal the ruling. They did, however, plan to present a canonical change at the next general convention that would obligate all members of the clergy to "abstain from sexual relations outside Holy Matrimony."

Ellen F. Cooke, the former national church treasurer who admitted to embezzling $2.2 million in church funds, was sentenced to a five-year prison term by a U.S. District Court judge in Newark, N.J., in July. She began her sentence at a federal prison in Alderson, W.V., on August 26.

Bishop Winston Ndungane was installed in September as the successor to Desmond Tutu as archbishop of Cape Town, the highest office of the Anglican Church in southern Africa. Formerly bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman in the Northern Cape, Bishop Ndungane served a three-year prison term from 1963 to 1966 for his anti-apartheid activities as a student. In the Philippines, Bishop Idnacio Capuyan Soliba of the diocese of Northern Luzon was chosen the prime bishop of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines at the church’s June synod.

In late 1995 the Church in the Province of the West Indies became the 15th Anglican province to vote in favour of ordaining women to the priesthood. Others included the Anglican churches in Australia, Brazil, Burundi, Canada, England, Hong Kong and Macao, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, the Philippines, southern Africa, Uganda, the United States, and West Africa. Meanwhile, the General Synod of Japan’s Anglican church, Nippon Sei Ko Kai, rejected a proposal to ordain women priests after the bishops voted against it. Clergy and lay delegates at the synod had voted by a two-thirds majority in favour of ordination.

The assistant bishop of the Kirinyaga diocese in Kenya, Andrew Adano Tuye, was killed on July 27. Bishop Tuye died with senior government officials when the police helicopter they were traveling in crashed just outside Marsabit.

In February the Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor, rector of Grace-Calvary Church in Clarkesville, Ga., was named one of the 12 most effective preachers in the English-speaking world. The selections were made by researchers at Baylor University, Waco, Texas, in a poll of 1,500 other preachers and seminary professors. Taylor was the only woman and only Episcopalian on the list. David Sumner

Baptist Churches

During 1996 some prominent African-American church leaders in the United States joined with secular business interests to boost black spending power. Among those denominations urging their parishioners to buy the products of the Revelation Corp. of America were the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc. (7.5 million members), National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. (3 million), and the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. (2.7 million). According to the plan, if substantial numbers of parishioners cooperated, a portion of the corporation’s profits would be funneled to local churches. The Revelation Corp. of America was a for-profit merchandising creation of John Lowery, a Memphis, Tenn., developer.

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., with 15,614,060 members, passed resolutions in its June meeting to boycott Disney enterprises because the Walt Disney Co. was providing health care benefits to companions of gay employees. The SBC also objected to Disney’s "hosting of homosexual theme nights at its parks."

At the same meeting, the SBC resolved to evangelize the Jews. The resolution criticized "an organized effort on the part of some either to deny that Jewish people need to come to their Messiah, Jesus, to be saved; or to claim, for whatever reason, that Christians have neither right nor obligation to proclaim the gospel to the Jewish people."

The president of the National Baptist Convention of America, Inc., the second largest African-American Baptist denomination, rejected the SBC’s recent apology for racism. Pres. E. Edward Jones told the 4,000 delegates at the denomination’s annual meeting in Dallas, Texas, "The civil rights struggle is still going on and we need more than an apology."

American Baptist Churches USA issued a call to prayer and concern for the churches being burned in the southern U.S. Grants and building loans were offered by the American Baptist Office of World Relief and the National Ministries’ Office of National Disaster Response.

At a recent gathering in Toulouse, France, the Baptist World Alliance was told that the organization was developing strategies to increase its membership significantly in predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Europe. Some 186 Baptist bodies worldwide were related to the Baptist World Alliance. Nilson Fanini, president of the Alliance, said, "Given our doctrinal differences, there will always be a need for Baptists to plant churches, even where there are many Catholic congregations." But Fanini cautioned that Baptists needed to exercise "courtesy and fellowship with those who have ploughed the ground before us and who believe in many Christian doctrines precious to Baptists." Norman R. De Puy

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Actions taken during summer meetings of racial and ethnic constituencies, along with a churchwide response to help rebuild burned African-American churches, highlighted much of 1996 for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The North American denomination, based in Indianapolis, Ind., gave more than $60,000 to a special fund established by the National Council of Churches. In other action July assemblies of African-American and Hispanic Disciples released statements condemning the racism behind the arson fires. The fires were a sobering testimony "that racism continues to plague our land," said the Disciples’ general minister and president, Richard L. Hamm, in a July pastoral letter. He also announced that the 1997 General Assembly would examine racism in North America.

The assembly of Hispanic Disciples also criticized U.S. immigration laws, which it termed discriminatory. A first-time gathering of Asian-American Disciples and United Church of Christ members called for the removal of U.S. bases and personnel from Okinawa.

Other highlights included national television appearances by two Disciples of Christ congregations; The Easter program, "Resurrecting Hope," featured the 8,000-member Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tenn., and renowned Disciples preacher Fred Craddock spoke from historic Beargrass Christian Church in Louisville, Ky., for a Christmas special, "Awakening the Quest."

Churches of Christ

A growing emphasis on benevolence, especially among the urban poor, characterized the Churches of Christ in 1996. The Prestoncrest Church of Christ topped the list of 18 large metropolitan churches in Dallas, Texas, in the total amount of help given to the disadvantaged, in both time and money; Prestoncrest earmarked 31% of its budget of $1.6 million for this purpose.

Healing Hands International sent 23 shipments of medical aid, valued at $4 million, to 13 countries, including the Republic of Georgia, Guatemala, and Nigeria. Church of Christ Disaster Relief of Nashville, Tenn., and White’s Ferry Road Relief Ministry of Louisiana coordinated relief in the wake of Hurricane Fran in September.

E-mail and the Internet were used world-wide to contact mission points and develop teaching programs. National television ministries expanded, including Herald of Truth and "Key to the Kingdom." World Bible School correspondence courses, including a new edition in Arabic for the Muslim world, were used to convert thousands. Sunset International Bible Institute in Lubbock, Texas, conducted a seminar to consider ways to reach the Islamic world for Christ.

Let’s Start Talking, a student evangelistic ministry of English-language instruction using the Bible as text, marked its 15th year with 45 teams in 24 countries. The Russian Children’s Bible was published by Eastern European Mission. Children and youth camps were held in Ukraine and Russia.

Paid positions of ministry for women increased during the year. WINGS, a network ministry for women in need, using E-mail and telephone, was begun by the department of marriage and family therapy at Harding University, Searcy, Ark. A "Methusalah" conference for seniors emphasized their growing numbers and needs.

Church of Christ, Scientist

At its 101st annual meeting the church’s first Latin-American president, Juan Carlos Lavigne, sounded the theme of reaching out to address today’s growing demand for spirituality: "To the degree that God’s love becomes closer and more real to us, our capacity to love expands. It overflows the limits of individual affection, and we embrace our community and the world. . . . We begin to pray for others." Lavigne, a Christian Science practitioner and teacher from Argentina, conducted the June 3, 1996, meeting in Boston.

About 3,000 members listened to officers’ reports describing how the church was endeavouring to fulfill its mission as stated by founder Mary Baker Eddy--"to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing." In line with this, the church’s clerk reported "encouraging signs of our membership renewing their healing careers" and the increasing involvement of young people in Sunday school and in Wednesday testimony meetings. New members were welcomed from 42 countries, and a Christian Science church was established in Russia for the first time in almost 70 years.

Among the year’s other noteworthy developments, Eddy’s primary work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, was being sold in bookstores throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, and Eddy was inducted into the (U.S.) National Women’s Hall of Fame. TheChristian Science Monitor received its sixth Pulitzer Prize, and an unusually large number of church members from around the world contributed articles to the denomination’s religious magazines for the first time. In Boston the restoration of the Mother Church buildings reached the halfway point. Also during the year, the church launched three sites on the Internet: its own official home page, an electronic version of the Monitor, and a nondenominational Religious Freedom home page.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The seventh largest church in the United States, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in 1996 crossed a demographic Rubicon: for the first time, it had more members living outside than inside the U.S. By the year’s end the church had 10 million members in 156 nations and territories. The 50,000 full-time missionaries were recruiting approximately 300,000 new members per year. In addition to 4.8 million members in the U.S., there were 800,000 in Mexico, 600,000 in Brazil, 400,000 in Chile, 400,000 in the Philippines, 300,000 in Asia, and sizable numbers in Europe, Canada, and the South Pacific. An attempt was being made to universalize the LDS message and to draw attention to the Christian dimension of its theology.

Rex E. Lee, who had served for seven years as president of Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, resigned for reasons of health (he died shortly thereafter) and was replaced in January 1996 by Merrill J. Bateman, formerly dean of business administration and management at the university and presiding bishop of the church. Simultaneously, Bateman was appointed a member of the First Council of Seventy, which marked the first time that a general authority of the church had served as president of the church university.

Despite his age--he was 86 in 1996--the church president, Gordon B. Hinckley, visited large congregations in many countries throughout the world. He dedicated new temples in San Diego, Calif.; Hong Kong; and American Fork, Utah. By the end of 1996 there were 49 working temples throughout the world, 6 under construction, and plans announced for 6 more. The First Presidency also announced its intention to build a new meeting hall north of Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, that would seat 25,000 people.

Jehovah’s Witnesses

During an age when families were disintegrating, a journalist described Jehovah’s Witnesses as persons who "live by Scriptures" and "stress family togetherness." To help persons live by the Bible, the Witnesses arranged a series of worldwide conventions beginning in 1996. During hundreds of seminars held in dozens of cities, the 192-page book The Secret of Family Happiness was released to the millions who attended. In less than a year, more than 14 million copies of this book, which explains how applying Bible principles can build strong families, had been published in 85 languages.

The emphasis on living by the Bible contributed to the 170% increase in the number of Witnesses since 1986. As of 1996 they numbered 5,199,895 in 232 countries. During 1995 the Witnesses spent more than one billion hours obeying Jesus’s command to spread his teachings to "people of all the nations." They distributed Bibles and Bible aids throughout the world and translated them into 303 languages. In 1995 the 32-page brochure Enjoy Life on Earth Forever was translated into 18 additional languages; this brought the total to 237 and made it the most widely translated publication of the Witnesses. During 1995 and 1996 their modern-language New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures was completed in Finnish and in Norwegian, and the New Testament of the Bible was translated into Chinese and four African languages, which brought the total to 29 languages. Thus, it was available in languages spoken by over 50% of the world’s population.

Lutheran Communion

The Council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), meeting in Geneva in September 1996, heard reports from its president, Gottfried Brakemeier of Brazil, and its general secretary, Ishmael Noko of Zimbabwe, on the present state of this international body of 122 member church organizations. A major item on the agenda was the ninth assembly of the LWF, to meet in July 1997 in Hong Kong, soon after control of that city reverted to China. After some earlier difficulties with the Chinese government, it seemed clear that the LWF would celebrate its 50th anniversary with its first assembly in Asia. Resolutions adopted by the council included approval of sanctions against Iraq and affirmation of the human rights of children. The council approved a process to further develop a joint declaration between the member churches of the LWF and the Roman Catholic Church on the doctrine of justification. One result of this declaration, to be considered for final official approval in 1998, would be the recognition that certain condemnations that were made in the 16th century between Lutherans and Roman Catholics would now be regarded as invalid.

In the Lutheran churches of Norway and Finland, the number of baptisms and confirmations increased. The constitutional separation of the Church of Sweden and the Swedish government continued; it was to be completed in 2000. Ecumenical progress between several Nordic and Baltic Lutheran churches and a number of Anglican churches in the U.K. moved forward.

Lutherans held international dialogues with the Orthodox churches and the Roman Catholic Church and a theological consultation with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Regional dialogues between Lutherans and Mennonites in Germany and between Lutherans and Moravians in the U.S. took place. In India, Hong Kong, and Switzerland, women were selected for major leadership positions. Lutheran churches in Germany, Finland, and the U.S. discussed human sexuality as a potential church-dividing issue. In Germany Lutherans marked the 450th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther. In the U.S. bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and of the Episcopal Church in the USA held their first joint meeting. The ELCA was considering entering into full communion with the Episcopal Church and three Reformed churches in 1997, as well as accepting the "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification" with the Roman Catholic Church. William G. Rusch

Methodist Churches

The quadrennial General Conference of the United Methodist Church was held in Denver, Colo., in April 1996. Delegates voted to retain the United Methodist Church’s Book of Discipline’s prohibition of the ordination of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals." The conference approved the establishing of a commission to create a plan for the possible union of four Methodist churches: the United Methodist, the African Methodist Episcopal, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion, and the Christian Methodist Episcopal Churches. The conference also voted to become part of the Consultation on Church Union covenanting community, which aimed to promote spiritual rather than structural unity.

The 17th World Methodist Conference took place in Rio de Janeiro in August. Some 2,700 delegates assembled from Methodist churches throughout the world. Under the broad theme "Holy Spirit: Giver of Life," the conference explored the nature and gifts of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church. During the conference the World Methodist Council, consisting of 500 elected representatives from the 71 member church organizations, held meetings. The council welcomed into membership the Church of South India and the Methodist Church of Paraguay, adopted a statement on "Wesleyan Essentials of Christian Faith," approved Methodist participation in ecumenical planning for the celebration of the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ, received the report "The Word of Life: A Statement on Revelation and Faith" from the Joint Commission of the Roman Catholic Church and the World Methodist Conference, authorized the establishment, in cooperation with His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch, of an international dialogue with the Orthodox churches, and adopted a report of the Anglican-Methodist International Commission.

Other resolutions included a call to daily prayer at noon, whenever possible, asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in transforming the world away from violence and injustice, and a call to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to celebrate the millennium by canceling the debt of the less-developed countries. The council also adopted resolutions instructing the officers and the executive committee to review the structure and role of the council and its relation to the conference.

The 1996 World Methodist Peace Award was given to Bishop Stanley Mogoba, the presiding bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, for "his consistency in never advocating violence . . . in the struggle against apartheid; his courage in seeking reconciliation." John C.A. Barrett

Pentecostal Churches

During 1996 a revival at the Brownsville Assembly of God church in Pensacola, Fla., attracted news and visitors on a scale experienced only by the "Toronto Blessing" in 1995. By August the number of visitors totaled more than 700,000, while the "professions of faith" totaled 25,000 persons. By the end of the year, the Brownsville meetings were spawning similar revivals in other churches throughout the U.S.

In April the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (founded by Aimee Semple McPherson) reelected John R. Holland to a third four-year term as president. The Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.) in August elected Paul Walker as general overseer. For decades Walker had served as pastor of the largest congregation in the denomination, the Mount Paran Church of God in Atlanta, Ga. In July Pentecostals in the U.S. mourned the passing of C.M. Ward, the longtime ABC network radio preacher on the Assemblies of God national broadcast known as "Revivaltime." The new Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America met in September in Memphis, Tenn., to "revisit" the "Miracle of Memphis," which brought black and white Pentecostals together in 1994.

There was discord between Pentecostals and Roman Catholics in Brazil in January, when the 3.5 million-member Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, led 200,000 members into the streets to protest verbal attacks by the government and a Catholic-owned television station. On the other hand, healing and harmony made news in April when 60,000 Italian Catholic charismatics met in Rimini, Italy, and pledged cooperation with the many Protestants, pentecostals, and charismatic observers in the sessions. Vinson Synan

Reformed, Presbyterian, and Congregational Churches

Western theology is no longer the universal form for understanding the Christian gospel, according to the international consultation on gospel and cultures organized by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) in Indonesia in February 1996. The sense that a fundamental theological shift had taken place pervaded the consultation as it recognized that many issues look quite different from the perspectives of different cultures.

Another kind of universality came under attack in the WARC consultation on Reformed faith and economic justice, held in Geneva in May, when it protested against the exclusion of millions of people from a world economy that was supposed to meet their needs. The two consultations were part of an intense process of preparation for the 23rd WARC General Council, scheduled to take place in Debrecen, Hung., in August 1997. Its theme was to be "Break the Chains of Injustice."

Meeting in Detmold, Ger., in August, the WARC executive committee agreed on new guidelines for international dialogue. A first round of international Reformed-Pentecostal dialogue took place in Torre Pellice, Italy, in May.

At the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) meeting in Grand Rapids, Mich., in August, delegates from churches in Asia and Africa challenged the council to accept the implications of the gospel of Jesus Christ in a world of poverty and pain, where ecological crises, military dictatorships, proliferation of arms, and crushing international debts impoverish peoples’ lives. REC had been founded in opposition to WARC in 1946, but by 1996 the two organizations had moved closer together. The REC General Assembly reaffirmed its desire to establish a joint committee with WARC, with a view to promoting better understanding and fostering areas of cooperation.

Nine churches were admitted to WARC membership in 1996: the Congregational Federation of Australia, the Isua Krista Kohhran and the Reformed Presbyterian Church (Northeast India), the Gereja Toraja Mamasa (Indonesia), the Iglesia Presbiteriana Asociada Reformada (Mexico), the Ekalesia Kelisiano Tuvalu and the Ekalesia Niue (Pacific), the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Uganda, and the Korean Presbyterian Church in America (U.S.). By late 1996 WARC linked more than 70 million Christians in 208 churches in 102 countries. Paraic Reamonn

The Religious Society of Friends

After Quaker women from the economically deprived part of the world returned from the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, they urged Quakers throughout the world and in their home communities to make positive changes in the cultural attitudes and customs that continued to keep women second-class citizens in many countries. They reminded their audience that Friends’ Christian testimony on equality needed to be lived at home by means of participatory decision making.

The Friends World Committee for Consultation Asia/West Pacific Section held its triennial representatives meeting in July 1996 at Darwin, Australia. Delegates from the region were excited to see the variety of work and witness of Friends in this large section, particularly in Vietnam, Cambodia, and India.

In late August 57 leaders and pastors representing 19 African Quaker groups and 12 Mission and Service agencies working in Africa met to worship and to listen and learn from one another. They sought to further develop their strengths, one of which was a growing convergence between Mission and Service through a better recognition of their underlying unity. In focusing on the horrifying situation in Rwanda and Burundi, the group was moved by the presence of Friends from those countries, most of them now refugees. They told of the fear and hatred around them but also of the sheltering of God’s love in desperate circumstances. Some had lost close family members, others their homes. Although some church buildings had been destroyed, no one as of late 1996 had been killed in a Friends church. The meeting concluded with a call for better communication and united positive action, including the gathering and sharing of information on the growing arms trade within Africa. Thomas F. Taylor

Salvation Army

During 1996 the Salvation Army invested in its future strength and growth. The first meeting of the International Spiritual Life Commission took place in July. It reviewed methods by which Salvationists could further develop and maintain spiritual life. The International Forum on Youth was scheduled for 1997. Entitled "Breakthrough Generation," it was planned by Gen. Paul A. Rader to focus the energy, passion, and commitment of Salvation Army youth on the continuation of their mission.

Touring South Korea, Pakistan, India, Australia, and the U.S., General Rader strengthened the Army’s worldwide presence and forged new spiritual links. Setting an example of altruism, retired general Eva Burrows received the 1996 Living Legacy Award from the Woman’s International Center, San Diego, Calif.

Humanitarian care and uniting to overcome disaster remained vital to the Army’s concept of "active" Christianity. The murders of a teacher and pupils at Dunblane (Scot.) Primary School and of 35 people in Port Arthur, Tas., shocked the world. Salvationists joined other denominations in comforting and later helping to rebuild those communities. Salvation Army emergency relief teams provided assistance following an explosion in London’s Docklands, and after an earthquake in Yunnan province, China, the Army provided aid.

Royal Navy Lieut. Tony Brooks embarked on a 19,300-km (12,000-mi) charity bicycle ride from London to the Bering Straits, Siberia. His aim was to raise funds for a Salvation Army detoxification and rehabilitation unit. Epitomizing Salvationist philosophy, the journey was unofficially dubbed "Life Cycle."

Seventh-day Adventist Church

Meeting in Costa Rica, the Annual Council of the church’s executive committee voted in 1996 to restructure the Asia-Pacific division of the world church. Instead of one administrative unit stretching from Korea to Indonesia, the region would have two units, a northern one with headquarters near Seoul, S.Kor., and a southern one with headquarters near Manila. The restructuring reflected the growth of the church in the region, particularly in China. With these changes the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church comprised 12 divisions, with a membership (as of Dec. 31, 1995) of 8,812,555 from 208 countries.

Plans were laid for a four-year emphasis on the message and mission of the church among Adventists worldwide. For 1997 the theme would be "Experience the Joy of Salvation in Christ."

The year also was marked by the largest evangelistic outreach in the church’s history. A five-week program of meetings originating in Orlando, Fla., was transmitted via satellite to about 3,000 sites in North America, Central America, South America, and Europe. The meetings were made available in 12 languages to a combined audience of approximately 250,000.

Humanitarian services continued to be provided by ADRA, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, which worked in 143 countries. The Annual Council in Costa Rica gave particular attention to the challenge presented by AIDS, stressing the need for education as well as help to victims.

A second round of consultations with representatives of the Lutheran World Federation was held near Toronto. Discussions focused on justification by faith, law, and the Sabbath. The church also engaged in official dialogue with the Worldwide Church of God. William G. Johnsson

Unitarian (Universalist) Churches

Vitality and growth continued to characterize North America’s Unitarian Universalist movement in 1996. Local church budgets climbed 63% from 1993 to 1996, membership was increasing at an annual rate of 4%, and the denomination’s presence on college campuses had quintupled since 1994.

The annual General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, June 20-26, 1996, drew more than 3,100 registrants to Indianapolis, Ind. Dedicated to the theme "The Future Is Now" and emphasizing youth issues, it attracted the largest gathering of young people in the denomination’s history.

Resolutions for study or final acceptance dealt with problems of economic injustices, environment, energy conservation, and racial and cultural diversity. Overwhelming support greeted resolutions in support of same-sex marriages and those expressing outrage over the violence inflicted upon African-American churches.

The Canadian Unitarian Council, concerned about the loss of the nation’s social safety net, passed a resolution on economic justice in a time of financial uncertainty. Its professionally produced video, "Sharing Our Vision," was shown on the Vision TV network nationally and was being used by congregations.

The (U.K.) General Assembly of the Unitarian and Free Christian Churches held its 1996 meetings in Glasgow, Scot. Resolutions on social issues included calling on the government to introduce tighter control over handguns by requiring their owners to submit to an annual test of psychological fitness, and to reform the national lottery in order to alleviate its perceived worst effects on society.

Around the world, Unitarian congregations were formed as far apart as Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg) and Ushuaia, Arg., near the southern tip of South America. The 200th anniversary of the Unitarian Christian Church of Madras, India, was observed in 1995. John Nicholls Booth

The United Church of Canada

The United Church’s December 1995 pastoral letter on the economy continued to draw considerable response in 1996. Media interest in the letter generated both criticism and support for the church’s call to its members to find ways "to stop a growing war against the poor." Shifting spending priorities, the impact of costs related to the relocation of the national offices in 1995, and lower-than-anticipated revenues combined to result in organizational restructuring and staff layoffs in 1996. The total amount of money raised for all purposes in United Church congregations was Can$311,855,276. Of this, Can$30,291,561, less than 10%, was directed to the national funds of the church. The United Church remained Canada’s largest Protestant denomination, with some three million known members and adherents in 1996.

Like other institutions within Canadian society, the United Church continued to deal with sensitive legal issues, including those related to claims by former residents of a now-closed Indian residential school. Clergy employment disputes and claims of sexual harassment were the predominant cases that came before both the church and civil courts in 1996. For the first time in many years, the church had a surplus of clergy. Unfortunately, this was happening at a time when the financial viability of some congregations to support full-time or multiple ministry was in question and when the number of congregations was in gradual decline. A churchwide study was beginning to assess this development.

The denomination’s new hymnal, Voices United, was published in April to widespread acclaim. Also during the year, the Ethnic Ministries Council met for the first time and began its program of supporting ethnic ministries throughout the church.

United Church of Christ

In 1996 the United Church of Christ celebrated the 150th anniversary of the American Missionary Association, a historic church mission agency that engaged in prophetic service and action with African-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Native Americans, Appalachian whites, and people moving to the United States from many nations and cultures. The AMA founded churches, schools, and hospitals and was involved in community development and publishing.

Work to reshape the structure of the church in the U.S. intensified during the year. This new structure, to be implemented in 1999, was to include three ministry units--Local Church, Justice and Witness, and Wider Church--along with an Office of General Minister and President. This would be the first comprehensive national reshaping since the formation of the 1.5 million-member church in 1957.

Critical theological deliberation continued within the church, sparked to a significant degree by the ongoing Seasons of Theological Reflection and the introduction in 1995 of The New Century Hymnal. The editors of the hymnal stated that "one of the great gifts to our time is the spirit . . . calling us to affirm the fullness of God, the goodness of creation, and the value of every person. The search for language and metaphor to express that breadth and richness marks this book." Spirited deliberations about the theological appropriateness of the language and metaphors used in the hymnal were ongoing.

The church strengthened its efforts to implement its commitment to be "a multiracial, multicultural church," remained active in the public realm primarily through support of poor and exploited people throughout the world, and furthered its involvement in a number of ecumenical relationships. Continued attention was given to evangelism and stewardship concerns in light of continued membership losses and reduced financial support.

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Violence against Roman Catholic clergy was particularly evident in 1996. The Chinese government agitated against memorial services for Bishop Peter Joseph Fan Xueyan, a leader of the underground, pro-Vatican Chinese church that could number as many as 10 million members; the bishop had died in 1992. Political intimidation turned into outright violence as the government sought to weaken the underground church while promoting the so-called Patriotic Church, the government-sanctioned Catholic Church. In Nicaragua Sandinistas and their sympathizers carried out raids against clergy and churches to protest the papal visit in February. In Ghana Christian-Muslim strife had cost some 2,000 lives in 1995, and struggles continued well into the new year. Muslim extremists in Algeria murdered seven aged Trappist monks in May and then killed Bishop Pierre Lucien Claverie in August. In Rwanda and Burundi antagonism between warring Hutu and Tutsi did not spare clergymen. In September Archbishop Joachim Ruhuna of Burundi, a Tutsi, was ambushed and killed, presumably by Hutu. Earlier, Bishop Simon Ntamwana, a Hutu, was threatened but proclaimed his intention to stay.

Throughout the world various bodies of Catholic clergy carried on struggles with the secular culture. In South Africa bishops opposed a gay rights initiative. The bishops of Argentina and of the Philippines complained about birth control campaigns launched by the governments of those countries. The Chilean bishops attacked efforts to loosen divorce laws, while the bishops of former East Germany objected to government efforts to minimize religious instruction in public schools. In the United States, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb., announced that persons belonging to organizations that opposed official church teachings would be automatically excommunicated. He had in mind Catholic reform groups such as Call to Action as well as organizations that had no official connection with the church.

Catholics in Hong Kong were attempting to take a more vigorous role in political life and to gain representation in the eventual provincial legislature. In South Korea 61 Catholics were elected to the 299-member legislature. Alterations in ecclesiastical administration paralleled these more evidently secular trends. New dioceses were created, or boundaries were substantially altered, in Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Brazil. The church’s awareness of its growing presence in Africa and Asia was reflected in its decision to beatify two missionaries, one to Africa and one to China, and to canonize a missionary to China.

As the church continued to struggle against the secularism of many modern cultures, it also faced dissent within its own rank. In 1995 some 500,000 Catholics in Austria had signed petitions calling for the ordination of women, an end to obligatory priestly celibacy, the election of bishops by laypeople, a "more humane church," and "acceptance of the value of sexual relationships." These petitions were consistent with a survey of U.S. Catholics that found 69% favouring married clergy, 65% supporting local election of bishops, and 78% insisting on more voice for ordinary believers. Joseph Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago (seeOBITUARIES) issued a document entitled "Called to Be Catholic" that spoke of "a time of peril" for the American church and instituted a committee to discuss the painful issues dividing Catholics in the U.S. Cardinal Bernardin was forced to retreat when some of his brother bishops, especially Bernard Cardinal Law of Boston and James Cardinal Hickey of Washington, said that there was no room for dissent from "revealed truth" and that dissident Catholics should be encouraged to abandon their opposition to official teachings.

In Rome the existence of this contention was acknowledged in a number of subtle ways. Whereas 1995 was a year of extraordinary activity, with encyclicals and pastoral letters being issued almost every month, there were few major pronouncements in 1996. In the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis (February 23) the pope made technical adjustments in the procedures for electing a pope but basically affirmed the existing system. The Vatican in March issued an "apostolic exhortation" entitled Vita Consecrata that commented in detail on the history, importance, and duties of the consecrated religious life. In October the pope issued a formal statement in which he said, "Fresh knowledge leads to recognition of the theory of evolution as more than just a hypothesis."

If these major documents responded only obliquely to challenges faced by the church, other means were used to respond more directly. The pope employed many of his Sunday Angelus messages to affirm traditional Catholic education and to stress the role of the parents as the primary educators of the young. In his addresses to bishops’ delegations in Rome for their required periodic visits, the pope repeatedly emphasized the need for bishops to hand on church teachings unchanged and unblemished and to preserve traditional moral norms. An unsigned essay in Osservatore Romano (Feb. 7, 1996) criticized a collection of essays published in Germany and critical of the 1993 encyclical Veritatis Splendor. The tenor of the essay was that truth must never be regarded as contingent or relative. It seemed clear that Rome had decided on a widespread effort to insist that much of the struggle in the contemporary Catholic Church was attributable to poor education and weak leadership.

Despite constant press reports about his allegedly poor health, the pope maintained a vigorous schedule of routine activities in Rome and of travels outside Italy. The year found the pope in Central America in February, in Tunisia in April, in Slovenia in May, in Germany in June, and in France in September. The latter visit occasioned some controversy because some of the sites selected for visitation were meant to recall the 1,500th anniversary of the baptism of Clovis, whom some regarded the first king of France. The point of the commemoration was to highlight the deep roots of French Catholicism. In October the pope had his appendix removed; his physicians announced that no new or serious illness was discovered during the surgery.

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

Late in 1995 the Estonian government recognized as the only Orthodox church in the nation the Estonian Orthodox Apostolic Church, formerly in exile in Sweden. This created serious ethnic, legal, and property issues for the Russian Orthodox Church in Estonia. (See Sidebar).

In Bulgaria the rivalry continued between Patriarch Maxim, who was recognized as the canonical head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church by other Orthodox churches but whom the government had refused to recognize in 1992, and Pimen, elected as patriarch by a state-supported synod of bishops. Pimen’s group acted in June to establish itself as a second Orthodox church in Bulgaria, intending to seek state recognition.

In Russia the Orthodox Church proclaimed a policy of noninvolvement in the July 3 elections for president of the nation, but unofficially it opposed former communist Gennady Zyuganov. In reaction to the moral decay in Russian society associated with capitalism, however, numerous clergy and laity supported Zyuganov.

In Albania Archbishop Anastasios reported in March that during the five years of his regime, 47 new churches had been built, 50 had been restored, and 30 churches, monasteries, and ecclesiastical buildings were currently being renovated. In August the Albanian government refused to accept three Greek nationals who were appointed by the ecumenical patriarchate as bishops of the dioceses of Korçë, Vlorë, and Gjirokastër. Archbishop Anastasios supported the government’s action. Late in August police apprehended three teenagers who attended Iranian-taught Islamic fundamentalist classes, accusing them of having desecrated 18 300-year-old frescoes at the St. Michael Church in Voskopojë (Moschopolis). The head of the Muslims in Albania denounced the desecration as an act of intolerance.

At a synod on July 30, the ecumenical patriarchate elected U.S.-born Archbishop Spyridon of Italy archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. He succeeded Archbishop Iakovos, who had retired the previous day after 37 years in the position. Archbishop Spyridon was installed on September 21 in New York City. The synod concurrently established three new jurisdictions: the metropolitanates of Canada, Central America, and South America; their parishes were formerly under the authority of Archbishop Iakovos.

ORIENTAL ORTHODOX CHURCHES

The Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt during 1996 began circumventing government policies designed to frustrate its need to repair old churches and construct new church buildings by purchasing closed and abandoned Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. These closings had resulted from the policies of former presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar as-Sadat against non-Egyptian Christians in Egypt. Approximately 50 church buildings were purchased at reasonable prices because their owners preferred that they be used as Christian churches rather than for secular purposes.

On May 8, 1996, Karekin I, the catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church based in Echmiadzin, Armenia, conducted an official visit at the headquarters of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople (Istanbul). He met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, saying that he was committed to promoting Orthodox unity. Satisfaction was expressed regarding the elimination of doctrinal differences between the two traditions as a result of theological dialogue.

The leader of the Armenian Orthodox jurisdiction headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon, Catholicos Aram I, conducted a 21-day visit to California beginning June 20. His branch of the Armenian Church was working for closer cooperation with other branches. REV. STANLEY HARAKAS

JUDAISM

Of 120 Knesset (parliament) members elected in Israel on May 29, 1996, 23 belonged to the three religious parties, compared with 16 in the previous Knesset. This increase could be seen in the context of changes in the electoral system that favoured the small parties.

Israel’s newly elected prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu (see BIOGRAPHIES), included the three religious parties in his governing coalition. Guidelines issued by his bureau stated that "the Government will act to bring the religious and secular closer through mutual understanding and respect. The Government will retain the status quo on religious matters."

Aryeh Deri, leader of Shas, the largest religious party, insisted that the religious parties should not use their voting power to bargain for religious legislation. Despite this declaration, in August, in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that Bar-Ilan Street in Jerusalem should remain open on the Sabbath, Orthodox members of the Knesset threatened to bring down the government unless it supported legislation to change the way in which Supreme Court justices were chosen; they were, however, heavily outvoted.

In reaction to rising tensions between religious and secular Jews and between the religious groups, several Jewish bodies as well as prominent leaders called for communal unity and mutual understanding. The Conference of European Rabbis, meeting in London in April, adopted 13 resolutions, mostly aimed at strengthening Orthodox leadership, education, and observance but also including calls for better relations between religious and secular Jews and for tolerance and the cessation of violence.

In July, nevertheless, considerable resentment was aroused in the United States by a sermon given in Jerusalem by Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi Eliahu Bakshi Doron, in which he compared Reform Jews to the biblical character Zimri, the adulterous Israelite prince rightfully slain by Phinehas. Reform Jews accused Bakshi Doron of incitement to violence, a charge he vigorously denied.

Various Jewish religious groups from Reform to Hasidic continued to attract adherents in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union. At the Centre for Jewish Studies at Moscow State University, Russian students graduated for the first time with a state-recognized degree in Jewish studies, and several of them attended a conference on the Teaching of Jewish Civilization at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In Britain, Clause 9 of the Divorce Bill, which passed through Parliament and awaited royal assent, authorizes a court to decline to make a divorce absolute if one of the parties claims that the marriage has not been properly dissolved according to religious law. If the bill was enacted, it would ease the plight of Jewish women whose husbands would otherwise be unwilling to initiate a get, or religious divorce. Meanwhile, the prenuptial agreement recommended by the chief rabbi and Beth Din (Jewish religious court) was signed by almost half of the couples to whom it had been offered; in its weaker version it commits couples to consult the Beth Din in case of marriage breakdown, and in the stronger version it authorizes the Beth Din to act as arbitrators.

In August Commentary, the monthly journal of the American Jewish Committee, published a symposium, "What Do American Jews Believe?" The 47 respondents, not typical of the general U.S. Jewish population, because they were "prominent rabbis and thinkers across the denominational spectrum," appeared to support the contention that "among affiliated Jews in general, religion is back, and it is fueled by traditionalism," a finding greatly at variance with the results of a similar survey in 1966 but not out of keeping with trends in the U.S. generally.

On June 9 in Teaneck, N.J., the Metivta, the rabbinical seminary of the Union for Traditional Judaism, conferred ordination on its first four graduates. The Union was the most recently formed Jewish denomination and was expected to appeal to the non-fundamentalist but tradition-oriented Jew.

Among major international interfaith events during the year was a Jewish-Christian Symposium on the Jubilee, convened by the World Council of Churches and the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switz., in May. Jews and Christians worked together for four days on the task of applying scripture to the modern world, with special reference to environmental issues and the problem of international debt.

BUDDHISM

A Nepali-led international archaeological team announced in February 1996 the discovery in 1995 of a stone they believed was laid by Emperor Ashoka of India in the 3rd century BC to mark the Buddha’s birthplace in Lumbini, Nepal. The announcement followed an October 1995 UNESCO mission that recommended that Lumbini be placed on the World Heritage List. The birthplace claim, however, remained highly contested. In June 1996 the British Library announced that birch-bark scrolls acquired in 1994 may be the earliest extant Buddhist manuscripts, dating from the end of the 1st century AD or the beginning of the 2nd century.

China celebrated the 11th Panchen Lama’s June 1996 initiation into Buddhist monkhood with festivals including the presentation to the Panchen Lama’s Tashilhunpo Monastery of a golden board bearing Chinese Pres. Jiang Zemin’s inscription, "Safeguarding the Motherland and Working in Interests of the People." In January the six-year-old initiate, whose December 1995 enthronement by the Chinese as the 10th Panchen Lama’s reincarnation was contested by the Dalai Lama, had affirmed his loyalty to Jiang. Amnesty International expressed concern in January for the Dalai Lama’s candidate, missing since his May 1995 selection; in February the Dalai Lama speculated that the boy had been executed. During May, Chinese forces injured or arrested scores of Tibetan Buddhists, killing at least two monks who were protesting a new Chinese ban on possessing pictures of the Dalai Lama and wearing Buddhist protective cords. In June, at the Tibetan Freedom Concert sponsored by rock stars in San Francisco, there were demonstrations against U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton’s renewal of China’s most-favoured-nation status.

Throughout the year leaders in Myanmar (Burma) negotiated with China to bring the Buddha’s left tooth relic to their country in late 1996 for public display in Yangon (Rangoon) and Mandalay. In May the Myanmar government prevented Nobel Peace Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy from performing the customary Buddhist New Year fish-releasing ceremony.

In January Cambodian First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh retired to a Buddhist monastery following disagreements with his father, King Norodom Sihanouk, who in July affirmed his own "Buddhist tolerance" while pardoning a newspaper editor accused of defamation. Later in July Sihanouk assured minorities that the campaign for national unity would not require them to become Buddhist. In November security forces in Vietnam arrested several Buddhist monks and seized a pagoda in Hue that the government said was a centre of anticommunist activities.

Throughout the year Buddhist monks protested the Sri Lankan government’s peace proposal extended to the Tamil insurgents, fearing Buddhist political power would be compromised. In February police warned of rebel Tamil Tigers posing as monks; later that month they arrested the reputed chief of Tiger operations in Colombo at his rented room in a Buddhist monastery. In July police discovered a time bomb amid flowers offered to a Buddhist temple in northern Sri Lanka.

A U.S. cosmetics firm apologized to the Thai government in January for disrespectful use of a Buddha image in its advertising. During the spring Chinese courts settled lawsuits against a sausage producer who used vegetarian monks in advertisements and a brewery producing "Buddha" beer. Jonathan S. Walters

HINDUISM

In India the installation on May 16, 1996, of a new central government led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raised fears that the country would be thrown into grave communal conflicts between Hindus and religious minorities. The new prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, however, quickly assured Muslims and other religious minorities that India would remain a constitutionally secular state and that the BJP’s ideal of "Hindutva" meant only Indian cultural identity and not a Hindu nation. Unable to gain sufficient support in Parliament, the governing coalition put together by the BJP lasted only two weeks and was replaced on June 1 by a coalition of parties representing the poor, minorities, and Hindu lower castes. To some observers the new government underscored the increase in political power of the lower castes and regional parties, as well as the failure of the once dominant Congress Party to achieve the kind of society, free of caste hierarchy and discrimination, envisioned by Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.

In March conservation work was completed on the 12th-century temple of Jagannatha ("Lord of the World") in Puri, one of the greatest temples in India. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) undertook the conservation in 1975 when stones forming the building’s exterior began falling because of the weight and the excessive salinity of layers of lime that had been applied as a preservative on the walls and domes during the past 300 years. The restoration revealed the splendid original temple carvings.

Two sets of calamities befell Hindu worshipers in the summer. On July 15, during the festival of Somavati Amavasya, sacred to devotees of Shiva, stampedes at two of the seven holiest sites in India left at least 60 dead and dozens more seriously injured. At Hardwar, where 1.5 million pilgrims had gone to bathe in the sacred Ganges River to celebrate the festival and pray for monsoon rains, 21 were killed in a stampede on a narrow bridge. Another 39 died when worshipers fell on top of one another on a slippery stairway leading to an underground shrine of the Mahakaleshwar temple at Ujjain, where some 200,000 had gathered for the festival. In late August the bodies of more than 120 pilgrims were recovered from along a mountain path leading to the Amarnath cave in Kashmir, where it is believed Shiva imparted the secret of immortality and where the god is worshiped in the phallic form of a stalagmite of ice. More than 110,000 pilgrims, the largest number in years, had registered for an annual pilgrimage to the sacred cave, and about 50,000 of them were caught in a blizzard at 4,575 m (15,000 ft) with virtually no shelter, food, or water. Many died from exposure, while others fell into ravines hundreds of metres below the narrow trail.

July 11 marked the 30th anniversary of the founding in New York City of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), popularly known as the Hare Krishnas. Its founder, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, brought from India a form of Hinduism that arose in the 16th century and directed devotion to Hare ("Lord") Krishna through ecstatic dancing and chanting. It quickly won converts among thousands of Americans, mostly young people. By 1980, three years after Prabhupada’s death, the movement had established temples in about 40 U.S. cities, with 5,000 resident devotees, opened a chain of vegetarian restaurants, founded a publishing house, and instituted inner-city and international relief programs.

The Hindu belief that deity can assume any number of forms underlay the erection throughout Andhra Pradesh of shrines dedicated to the popular film star N.T. Rama Rao following his death on January 18 at the age of 72. (See OBITUARIES.)

ISLAM

Muslims in most places in the world continued in 1996 to be subject to outbursts of violence, military operations by government and insurgent forces, and disappointed economic and social expectations. Various groups and leaders continued to call for Islamist action--that is, for Islamic solutions that emphasized the implementation of traditional behaviour and the Islamic Shari’ah law code. These calls were often labeled as fundamentalist; that term, however, continued to become less useful and accurate, because various Islamist groups generally had their own agendas that were based on a common theme of Islamic social justice but could be nuanced in a number of ways. The more specific religious concerns remained inextricably blended with political, and often nationalistic and cultural, concerns. At the same time, in Europe and North America, Islamic influences continued to expand.

Violence continued in many places: Algeria, Egypt, Pakistan and India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, The Sudan, China, and Israel and the West Bank and Jerusalem. The disorders were often a continuation of the patterns of recent years: disaffected groups and their leaders called for reforms based on Islamic principles; there were attacks against governmental authority, sometimes obliquely in the form of terrorist attacks on tourists (Egypt in April); and those attacks were generally met by swift government reprisals. Leaders of the disaffected groups and their followers tended to be economically insecure or unemployed, disgusted by the social and cultural milieu about them, unhappy at the rapid changes and alien values they perceived as overwhelming their society, and longing for now disintegrated traditional values. Many of these disaffected persons were relatively well educated and members of the middle class. The solutions they proffered for ending the ills were couched in the language, symbols, and systematic exposition of Islam.

Events in Algeria, Egypt, The Sudan, Tajikistan, India and Pakistan, and China were confined to outbreaks of violence in specific areas and were dealt with swiftly. Other areas faced outright civil war. In Afghanistan the Taliban Islamists, after occupying the southern half of that country for about two years, began to expand northward, taking the capital Kabul in September. In the name of Islam, they announced a strict code of behaviour that included limitations on women’s activities, such as closing girls’ schools and ordering women to remain at home in seclusion. The Shari’ah was to be the enforced law. In Iraq the national forces supported a move by one Kurdish group in the north against its rival Kurdish group, an action that brought a reprisal strike in southern Iraq by the U.S. in September.

In Turkey the Islamic Welfare (Refah) Party, which won a plurality in elections at the end of 1995, was finally able in June to form a coalition government under Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan. (See BIOGRAPHIES.) It was the first time since the early 1920s that an Islamic religious party had held parliamentary power in Turkey. In the Philippines, after many years of rebellion in the southern island of Mindanao, Islamic guerrilla forces and the government signed a truce early in September, which signified a new era of shared power; the agreement was objected to by some Christian and other groups. In Bosnia and Herzegovina the truce seemed to be holding, and elections supervised by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe were held in September.

The situation in the West Bank and Israel worsened considerably during the year as the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which came to power as the result of Israel’s May election, appeared to have a different timetable for the implementation of the agreements of 1993 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Outbreaks of violence occurred throughout the year, but the situation became especially severe in September and October over the Temple Mount area in Jerusalem, the location of the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest Islamic shrine. (SeeISRAEL.)

In the U.S. the Islamic presence continued to grow and be recognized. One estimate numbered mosques there at more than 1,200. In late spring a national meeting of Muslims attracted thousands of attendees; in May an international women’s conference was held in Washington, D.C., to discuss issues of interest to Muslim women throughout the world. Louis Farrakhan, leader of the organization the Nation of Islam, visited a number of Islamic countries early in the year, including Iran and Libya, with which the U.S. did not have regular diplomatic relations. As a result, and because of remarks Farrakhan made, the trip caused controversy. The Nation of Islam continued its efforts to reach out to inmates in U.S. prisons and also its controversial patrol service of inner-city housing complexes suffering high crime rates. Discrimination and isolated incidents of harassment and attacks on U.S. Muslims were reported.

In July Citibank opened a bank in Bahrain that followed Islamic legal rules for banking practices, the first such Western bank in the Persian Gulf. Citibank’s decision could be understood in light of the fact that Islamic banks now managed funds valued in the $50 billion-$100 billion range.

Worldwide Adherents of All Religions by Continent, Mid-1996

Figures on adherents of all religions by continent are provided in the table.

Worldwide Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-1996

Africa

Asia

Europe

Latin

America

Northern

America

Oceania

World

%

Number of countries

Christians

360,874,000

303,127,000

555,614,000

455,819,000

255,542,000

24,253,000

1,955,229,000

33.7

260

Roman Catholics

125,376,000

94,250,000

269,021,000

408,968,000

75,398,000

8,452,000

981,465,000

16.9

249

Protestants

114,726,000

45,326,000

79,534,000

34,816,000

121,361,000

8,257,000

404,020,000

7.0

236

Orthodox

25,215,000

13,970,000

171,665,000

460,000

6,390,000

650,000

218,350,000

3.8

105

Anglicans

27,200,000

650,000

28,357,000

1,089,000

6,300,000

5,540,000

69,136,000

1.2

158

Other Christians

68,357,000

148,931,000

7,037,000

10,486,000

46,093,000

1,354,000

282,258,000

4.9

118

unaffiliated Christians

60,234,000

11,561,000

29,376,000

12,164,000

54,148,000

4,937,000

172,420,000

3.0

215

affiliated Christians

300,640,000

291,566,000

526,238,000

443,655,000

201,394,000

19,316,000

1,782,809,000

30.7

260

Atheists

440,000

175,450,000

40,845,000

3,010,000

1,850,000

600,000

222,195,000

3.8

139

Baha’is

1,923,000

3,230,000

95,000

722,000

357,000

77,000

6,404,000

0.1

210

Buddhists

38,000

321,985,000

1,563,000

569,000

920,000

200,000

325,275,000

5.6

92

Chinese folk religionists

13,000

220,653,000

120,000

68,000

100,000

17,000

220,971,000

3.8

60

Confucians

1,000

5,050,000

4,500

2,500

27,000

1,000

5,086,000

0.1

12

Ethnic religionists

70,250,000

30,350,000

1,150,000

1,042,000

45,000

108,000

102,945,000

1.8

104

Hindus

1,986,000

786,991,000

1,650,000

760,000

1,365,000

323,000

793,075,000

13.7

94

Jains

59,000

4,835,000

16,000

4,500

4,500

1,000

4,920,000

0.1

11

Jews

165,000

4,257,000

2,432,000

1,084,000

5,836,000

92,000

13,866,000

0.2

134

Mandeans

0

45,000

0

0

0

0

45,000

0.0

2

Muslims

308,660,000

778,362,000

32,032,000

1,356,000

5,530,000

385,000

1,126,325,000

19.4

184

New-Religionists

21,000

103,361,000

803,000

919,000

900,000

11,000

106,015,000

1.8

27

Nonreligious

3,567,000

752,759,000

90,389,500

16,053,000

21,315,000

2,845,000

886,928,500

15.3

226

Parsees

1,500

185,000

1,000

1,000

1,000

1,000

190,500

0.0

10

Shintoists

0

2,893,000

1,000

1,000

1,500

1,000

2,897,500

0.0

12

Sikhs

37,000

18,465,000

494,000

9,000

496,000

7,000

19,508,000

0.3

21

Spiritists

4,500

1,120,000

18,000

8,834,000

315,000

1,000

10,292,500

0.2

30

Other religionists

90,000

100,000

450,000

190,000

1,072,000

50,000

1,952,000

0.0

182

Non-Christians

387,256,000

3,210,091,000

172,064,000

34,625,000

40,135,000

4,720,000

3,848,891,000

66.3

262

Total population

748,130,000

3,513,218,000

727,678,000

490,444,000

295,677,000

28,973,000

5,804,120,000

100.0

262

Continents. These follow current UN demographic terminology. UN practice began by dividing the world into 5 continents in 1949, then into 18 regions (1954), then into 8 major continental areas (called macro regions in 1987) and 24 regions (1963), then into 7 major areas and 22 regions (1988), and most recently into the 6 major areas shown above and 21 regions (1994).See United Nations, World Population Prospects: The 1994 Revision (New York: UN, 1995), with populations of all continents, regions, and countries covering the period 1950–2025. The table above therefore combines its former columns "East Asia" and "South Asia" into one single continental area, "Asia," which also now includes the former Soviet Central Asian states. Note also that "Europe" now extends eastward to Vladivostok, the Sea of Japan, and the Bering Strait.Countries. The last column enumerates sovereign and nonsovereign countries in which each religion or religious grouping has a numerically significant following. Rows. The list of non-Christian religions is arranged in alphabetical order. Adherents. As defined and enumerated for each of the world’s countries in World Christian Encyclopedia (1982), projected to mid-1996, adjusted for recent data. Christians. Followers of Jesus Christ affiliated with churches (church members, including children: 1,782,809,000) plus persons professing in censuses or polls though not so affiliated.Other Christians. Denotes Catholics (non-Roman), marginal Protestants, crypto-Christians, and adherents of African, Asian, Black, and Latin-American indigenous churches. Atheists. Persons professing atheism, skepticism, disbelief, or irreligion, including antireligious (opposed to all religion). Buddhists. 56% Mahayana, 38% Theravada (Hinayana), 6% Tentrayana (Lamaism). Chinese folk religionists. Followers of the traditional Chinese religion (local deities, ancestor veneration, Confucian ethics, Taoism, universism, divination, some Buddhist elements).Confucians. Non-Chinese followers of Confucius and Confucianism, mostly Koreans in Korea. Hindus. 70% Vaishnavites, 25% Shaivites, 2% neo-Hindus and reform Hindus. Jews. Adherents of Judaism. For detailed data on "core" Jewish population, see the annual "World Jewish Populations" article in the American Jewish Committee’s American Jewish Year Book.Muslims. 83% Sunnites, 16% Shi’ites, 1% other schools. Up to 1990 the ethnic Muslims in the former U.S.S.R. who had embraced communism were not included as Muslims in this table.After the collapse of communism in 1990–91, these ethnic Muslims were once again enumerated as Muslims if they had returned to Islamic profession and practice.New-Religionists. Followers of Asian 20th-century New Religions, New Religious movements, radical new crisis religions, and non-Christian syncretistic mass religions.Nonreligious. Persons professing no religion, nonbelievers, agnostics, freethinkers, dereligionized secularists indifferent to all religion.Other religionists. Including 70 minor world religions and a large number of spiritist religions, New Age religions, quasi religions, pseudo religions, parareligions, religious or mystic systems, religious and semireligious brotherhoods of numerous varieties. Total population. UN medium variant figures for mid-1996, as given in World Population Prospects: The 1994 Revision (New York: UN, 1995).

Religious Adherents in the United States of America, 1900–2000

Figures on religious adherents in the U.S. are provided in the table.

Religious Adherents in the United States of America, AD 1900–2000

Year

Annual change, 1990–95

Adherents

1900

%

mid-1970

%

mid-1990

%

Natural

Conversion

Total

Rate (%)

1995

%

2000

%

Christians

73,270,000

96.4

186,121,000

90.8

213,924,000

85.6

2,281,400

-39,200

2,242,200

1.03

225,135,000

85.5

234,875,000

85.4

Professing Christians

73,270,000

96.4

186,121,000

90.8

213,924,000

85.6

2,281,400

-39,200

2,242,200

1.03

225,135,000

85.5

234,875,000

85.4

Unaffiliated Christians

18,845,000

24.8

32,920,000

16.1

28,373,000

11.4

302,600

-117,400

185,200

0.64

29,299,000

11.1

29,785,000

10.8

Affiliated Christians

54,425,000

71.6

153,201,000

74.7

185,551,000

74.2

1,978,800

78,200

2,057,000

1.08

195,836,000

74.4

205,090,000

74.5

Roman Catholics

10,775,000

14.2

48,391,000

23.6

56,665,000

22.7

604,300

-47,300

557,000

0.96

59,450,000

22.6

61,800,000

22.5

Protestants

35,000,000

46.1

70,653,000

34.5

82,072,000

32.8

875,300

-189,700

685,600

0.82

85,500,000

32.5

88,800,000

32.3

Evangelicals

26,598,000

35.0

50,689,000

24.7

67,743,000

27.1

722,500

244,900

967,400

1.39

72,580,000

27.6

76,815,000

27.9

Anglicans

1,600,000

2.1

3,234,000

1.6

2,480,000

1.0

26,400

-52,400

-26,000

-1.07

2,350,000

0.9

2,203,000

0.8

Orthodox

400,000

0.5

4,387,000

2.1

4,250,000

1.7

45,300

230,900

276,200

5.79

5,631,000

2.1

6,260,000

2.3

Black Christians

5,750,000

7.6

19,679,000

9.6

32,598,000

13.0

347,700

92,700

440,400

1.32

34,800,000

13.2

37,200,000

13.5

Black Evangelicals

5,320,000

7.0

13,551,000

6.6

17,248,000

6.9

183,900

50,500

234,400

1.32

18,420,000

7.0

19,548,000

7.1

Catholics (non-Roman)

100,000

0.1

473,000

0.2

646,000

0.3

6,900

5,900

12,800

1.91

710,000

0.3

800,000

0.3

Other Christians

800,000

1.1

6,384,000

3.1

9,680,000

3.9

103,200

100,800

204,000

2.02

10,700,000

4.1

12,100,000

4.4

Doubly-affiliated Christians

0

0.0

0

0.0

-2,840,000

-1.1

-30,300

-62,700

-93,000

3.08

-3,305,000

-1.3

-4,073,000

-1.5

Non-Christians

2,725,000

3.6

18,928,000

9.2

35,997,000

14.4

383,700

39,500

423,200

1.15

38,113,000

14.5

40,244,000

14.6

Atheists

1,000

0.0

200,000

0.1

770,000

0.3

8,200

12,600

20,800

2.57

874,000

0.3

925,000

0.3

Baha’is

3,000

0.0

138,000

0.1

600,000

0.2

6,400

10,200

16,600

2.63

683,000

0.3

750,000

0.3

Buddhists

30,000

0.0

200,000

0.1

1,680,000

0.7

17,900

18,900

36,800

2.10

1,864,000

0.7

2,000,000

0.7

Chinese folk religionists

70,000

0.1

90,000

0.0

76,000

0.0

800

-1,200

-400

-0.53

74,000

0.0

70,000

0.0

Hindus

1,000

0.0

100,000

0.0

650,000

0.3

6,900

22,100

29,000

4.11

795,000

0.3

950,000

0.3

Jews

1,500,000

2.0

6,700,000

3.3

5,535,000

2.2

59,000

-62,400

-3,400

-0.06

5,518,000

2.1

5,500,000

2.0

Muslims

10,000

0.0

800,000

0.4

3,600,000

1.4

38,400

-5,000

33,400

0.91

3,767,000

1.4

3,950,000

1.4

Black Muslims

0

0.0

200,000

0.1

1,250,000

0.5

13,300

16,700

30,000

2.29

1,400,000

0.5

1,650,000

0.6

New-Religionists

0

0.0

110,000

0.1

575,000

0.2

6,100

-500

5,600

0.96

603,000

0.2

675,000

0.2

Nonreligious

1,000,000

1.3

10,069,000

4.9

21,364,000

8.5

227,800

35,400

263,200

1.20

22,680,000

8.6

24,034,000

8.7

Sikhs

0

0.0

1,000

0.0

160,000

0.1

1,700

4,300

6,000

3.50

190,000

0.1

220,000

0.1

Tribal religionists

100,000

0.1

70,000

0.1

280,000

0.1

3,000

2,000

5,000

1.73

305,000

0.1

350,000

0.1

Other religionists

10,000

0.0

450,000

0.2

707,000

0.3

7,500

3,100

10,600

1.46

760,000

0.3

820,000

0.3

Total population

75,995,000

100.0

205,049,000

100.0

249,921,000

100.0

2,665,100

0

2,665,400

1.04

263,248,000

100.0

275,119,000

100.0

Methodology. This table extracts a microcosm of the world table above. It depicts the United States, the country with the largest number of adherents of Christianity, the world’s largest religionStatistics for five points in time across the 20th century are presented. Also analyzed is each religion’s Annual change by:Natural increase (births minus deaths, plus immigrants minus emigrants) per year and Conversion (new converts minus new defectors per year, which together constitute the Total increase per year. Rate is then computed as percentage per year.Christians. Professing Christiansare all persons who profess publicly (in censuses or polls) to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. This category is subdivided into affiliated Christians(church members) and unaffiliated (nominal) Christians (professing Christians not affiliated with any church).Evangelicals. Churches, agencies, and individuals that call themselves by this term usually emphasize five or more fundamental doctrines (salvation by faith, personal acceptance, verbalinspiration of Scripture, depravity of man, Virgin Birth, miracles of Christ, atonement, evangelism, Second Advent)Black Christians.Other Christians. This term denotes members of denominations and churches that regard themselves as outside mainline Protestant/Catholic/Orthodox ChrDoubly-affiliated Christians.Non-Christians. Followers of non-Christian religions or of no religion; the 12 largest such varieties are listedJews. Core Jewish population relating to Judaism, excluding Jewish persons professing a different religion but including immigrants from the former U.S.S.R., Eastern Europe, Israel, andOther categories. Definitions as given above under the Worldwide Adherents table. (DAVID B. BARRETT; TODD M. JOHNSON)